Dems Seek Block of Bush Court Nominee

JESSE J. HOLLAND

Published 8:00 pm, Monday, April 28, 2003

Associated Press Writer

Democrats attacked a former Ohio solicitor general for what they called his efforts to curtail the rights of the disabled, which they say should disqualify him from becoming a judge on the U.S. Appeals Court.

Jeff Sutton "has been the most visible advocate in the right-wing movement to weaken the basic civil rights that have bought our country closer to equal opportunity for all citizens," Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said Monday.

The Senate will take a final vote on Sutton's nomination on Tuesday. Sutton's supporters say he is well qualified.

People who question Sutton "will no doubt attest to Mr. Sutton's keen intellect, his even temperament and the depth of his legal knowledge," said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio. "These attributes demonstrate why Jeffrey Sutton is one of the finest appellate lawyers in the United States today and why he will be an excellent federal judge."

Sutton has been nominated to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which handles appeals from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan.

Democratic senators have criticized Sutton for attempts to limit federal civil rights protections and gut or weaken protections for state employees with disabilities and older workers.

The Columbus, Ohio, lawyer argued successfully in a Supreme Court case in 2000 that Congress exceeded its authority by permitting state workers to sue their states under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Sutton told the Senate Judiciary Committee at his January confirmation hearing that he would be fair as a judge and asked them not to hold his previous work as a lawyer against him as a judicial nominee.

"I'm trying very hard to show you that I would be an objective judge and that the client I would have is … the rule of law, not a former client," Sutton said then.